Bail-joint



J. L. .McGLINTOGK.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. ,29. 1909.

' Patented June 22, 1909.

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wa hwooeo JAMES L. MCOLINTOUK, 01 CLEA RWATER, KANSAS.

RAIL-JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 22, 1909.

Application filed January 29, 1909. i Serial No. Win51.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that 1, JAMES L. MoCLmTooK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Clearwater, in the county of Sedgwick and 'State of Kansas, haverinven ted new and useful Im rovements 1n 'rflail-Jomts, of which the fol owing is a specification. I

This invention relatesto improvements in rail joints and more patticularly -to a scarf joint to be used in connecting iron and steel rails in railways.

The object of this invention is to rovide a joint of extreme simplicity which W1 1 allow for the expansion and contracti'onof the rails caused by the different conditions of temerature, and yet at the sameitime produce a oint of maximum rigidity.

The advantages ofrthis invention are thatall parts .of the joint are interchangeable and the extreme simplicity and small number of parts allow a very rapid assembly and great ease in completing t e joint under all conditions no matter on which side of the track the rail is to be laid and the joint in either case is completed in the same man nr. The fish-plate used in this joint is so constructed as to act both as a nutlock and a chair in addition to its regular function. In rails joined in accordance with this invention absolutely no binding occurs to prevent the expansion and contraction of the rails. To form this joint requires but four parts in addition to the two rails.

Heretofore it has been custoniarv to constr'uct scarf joints which are secured by passing bolts directly through the narrow pro- 'ection or reduced portions of the rails, or

y using a fish plate overlapping the joint and secured by assing additional bolts through the web 0 each rail on each side of the joint. 'In both of these cases it has been practically demonstrated that the rails will ind'and as there is no play at the joint the rails will either buckle or pull apart when affected by changes in temperature. joint should allow for this expansion and contraction and it is accomplished by this inventlon.

Whilethis invention is illustrated inthe preferred form in the accompanying drawmg it 18 to be understood that minor detail changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

'Figure 1 is a perspective View showing a complete joint as contemplated in this invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section A rail taken on the horizontal plan, passing throu h the bolts. Fig. 3 is a vertical section t irough the center of the oirl'ig'. 4

is a perspective view showing the rails (10-- tached, and the fish-plate in dotted lines.

A and A designate two rails to be joiner in the manner contemplated by this invention.

1 is'the top or ball of the rail, 2 the web and 3 the base flange. At each end of the rail the web is increased in thickness on both sides to the same degree as the ball 1. The end of each rail is then cut away perpendicularly to and including the base and ball to the center line thereof. These cuts being 0 positely disposed at each end of the rail, tl ie abutting ends of any two rails will always engage each other to form a' joint of uniform thickness. structed to form also a chair for the joint by curving the lower portion 5 to corms-port? with the base flange 3, and then forming an integral plate 6 beneath the base flange upon whiclrthe joint rests. The portion 7 .l'errning the fish-plate proper is curved outwardly at the top and bottom presenting a convex surface at the engagement with the thickened web of the rails. Each rail is pro vided with a series of threea ertures or holes for the reception of the )olts. The holes 8 and 8 are equidistant from the end of the rail, and are of such a size as to snugly receive the bolt. The apertures t) and 10 are in the same relative position as the apertures 9 and 10, and are in the form of oblong slots so that when two ends are placed together the a 'rcrturc J will correspond with .10 and 10 with E), as the centers of the so ries of each rail are in line and the same distance from. H; bottom ol the base flange 3.

in mi. this joint two rails are placed to ether and the cqualcnt away portions will cause the extensions to overlap each other. The fish-plate 4 is then placed on one side of the rail. The portion o of the fish-plate acting as a chair and the convex portion 7 engaging the web-at the center hire of the apertures. This portion oi the fishplate is provided with tour circular bolt roles whose centers coinra with the centers of the apertures 8, 9, l0 and 8. The iishplate is secured to the rails by three bolts passin therethrough having their heads on the side opposite the fish-plate. The'lishplate is rigidly secured to but one rail and this is accomplished by passing a bolt The fish-plate 4 is con- .sition, as the curve in "cuiar aperture farthest from .r o rail and in order that the ran to slidaory engage the other ran, it is necessary that this fixed bolt should 'be passed throh h from the side 0 posite the cut away portion of the rail. Bo ts are then passed through the corresponding elongated apertures and all of the bolts are secured by nuts. By this construction the fish-plate is always rigidly secured to but one rail and the elongated corresponding apertures allow for the expansion and contraction without any binding at'the joint. When the nuts are set up tight against the curved portion 7 of'the fish-plate they will be held firmly in that pcthe plate will act as a lock to prevent their being jarred loose by the vibration caused by trains passingover the joint. It will therefore be seen that by this means a compact and simple joint of great strength and durability is roduced at a very small cost and with but slight alteration to the railroad rail of commerce.

The simplicity of this construction and the case by which it may be applied are the essential features of this invention. The parts all being interchangeable there is never any difliculty encountered, such as the case where the joint is of such construction that only a certain end of the rail can be properly cngi-g'ed with the next rail. Furthermore by riding the third. hole on each rail fan that win the end, and the four correspondz ing holes in the fish-plate, the fish-plate may be applied to either side of the oint, and as it is preferable that the fish-plate should al; ways be applied to the outer side of the oint this may e done irrespective of the manner in hich the ends are overlapped.

l. wing described my invention I. claim 1- 1. scarf joint for railroad rails con1pris jug ra \huving oppositely disposed cut away portioi at each end thereof adapted to break joints to form in oifect a continuous rail, the rail being provided at each end with three sin'iilurly disposed bolt receiving apertures, the two nearest the'end being in the reduced portion of the rail and in the form act as an extension on this a l 1 l presenting a convex easeee of horizontal slots, the third aperture being in the rail proper and adapted to snugly receive the bolt, a combined fish-plate and chair extending beyond each end of the joint having a curved portion adapted to engage the webs and presenting a convex surface thereto, having a series of circular bolt receiving apertures corresponding in location to the four apertures on the sides of the adjacent rails, said fish-plate being secured by three bolts passed through from the opposite side, the concave portion forming a nut lock therefor, the fish-plate being rigidly secured on the side of the cut away portion of one rail and slidably engaging the other rail by he bolts assing through the elongated slots in the re uced portions of both rails.

2. A scarf joint for railroad rails comprising interchangeable rails provided with 0ppositel disposed cut away portions at each end and a combined fish-plate and chair adapted to rails, said fish-plate being rigidly secured to but one rail and allowing a limited movement of the other rail between the reduced portion of the first rail and the fish-plate.

3. A scarf joint for railroad rails comprising rails provided with oppositely disposed corresponding cut away portions at the endsits cut away portion and means to slidably secure and support the abutting.

enga e the other rail between the first rail and sh-plate.

l. In a scarf jointfor railroad rails comprising rails adapted to break joints with each other, an outwardly curved fish-plate surface adapted to engage the rails throughout the-length of the plate, bolts passed through the rails and fishlate in the line the olts engaging the concave surface of the fish-plate and locked in osition thereby.

, JAMES L. 1V OCLINTOCK. Witnesses:

LANGDON Moose, CAaoLmn MORGAN.

of contact and nuts on 

